Valve for internal-combustion engines



April 7, 1931. G. McDowELL VALVE FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed March 14, 1927. 3 sheets-sheet 1 'April 7', 1931. G, MCDOWELL v 1,799,759

VALVE FOR INTERNAL OMBUSTION ENGINES Filed March 14. 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet i@ Z l 0 IN VEN TOR. mc/Qw B Y Alfril 7, 1931- G. McDowELL i I VALVE FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed March 14, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheell .3 4

Patented Apr. 7, 1931 UNITED. simeri-:sI inlvriazla'r OFFICE .GEORGE MUDOWELL, OF FLORAL PARK, NEW YORK VALVE FOB INTEBNAL-COMBUSTION ENG-:INES

' Application led karch 14, 1927. Serial No. 175,071.

part of the operation of the engine, to prov 19 vide sleeve valves which are operated by rotating in opposite directions and to provide conical sleeve valves which are operated from a central stem. Other objects of the invention will appear from the following specification and vtheaccompanying drawings in which, Fig. 1, is a sectional elevation o an internal combustion'engine embodying my invention, Fig. 2 is an elevation at right angles to Fig. 1, showing the operating mechanlsm, Fi 3 is a horizontal section across the valve head', Fig. 4 shows the relation in which the .conical sleeve valves are assembled vand Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show the port openings of the valves at various cycles in the movement of the engine.

Engines of the sleeve valve type have certain advantages over the more common poppet valve type which are well understood. Thepresent sleeve valve construction however 1s expensive to manufacture and its use requires a special design of en ine. In the present invention the -sleeve va ve construction is embodied in the engine head and may be applied to a cylinder block of the ordinary type. The' sleeve valves in this invention are cone shaped with one working inside the other and are axially centered over the longitudinal centre of the cylinder. The `pressure within the cylinder is thus applied equal- 0 ly to the surface of the inside cone andthe sleeve members relation.

Each sleeve has astem extendin apex of the cone outside the hea which'is engaged by a coil spring to hold the sleeves in place. A horizontal shaft extends along the en 'ne head parallel with the engine shaft rom which it is driven athalf the speed of the engine shaft. The stem of one 5 of said sleeves 1s connected with said shaft are thereby'held in close from the by a 1 to 1 gear. A countershaft is connected with the horizontal shaft by a 1 to 1 gear to ro- -tate at the samespeed butin opposite direction thereto. The stem of the other sleeve is con nected with this countershaft by a 1 to -1 gear with the result that the sleeves rotate in opposite directions and at ha'lf the speedof the engine shaft. y

Suitable ports are provided in the sleeves which, when they lregister with each other and'with the intake and. exhaust of the, engine control the operation of the engine. The

: firing chamber of the engine is located within the cone sleevedirectly over the piston. The .spark plu is located in the engine headA to one side o the sleeves so that the connection between thel spark plug and the firing chamber is controlled by the sleeve valves. These sleeves have suitable ports which register with the spark plugv chamberon the frin stroke of the engine; at other times the spar plug chamber is shut oli' from' the cylinder and is thereby shielded from the carbon of the cylinder and the Working pressures of the cylinder.

Referring to the drawings, 11 is the cylinder, 12 is the piston, 13 is the connecting rod, 14 is'the crank, 15 is the crank-shaft bearings and 16 is the crank shaft all of which is according to stadard construction in engines of this type.

The engine head 17 is secured on top'of the cylinder block by suitable bolts and is waterjacketed as at 18.- The spark plug 19 is secured in the side of the head in the. spark 1plug chamber a. On the opposite side of the' ead the intake pipe 2O connects to the intake bearing 26, thus ho ding the sleeve in posi- .tion while it is free to rotate.

The inner sleeve valve 27 seats on the outer sleeve valve 22 and .terminates in the stem 28 which is free to rotate within the stem 23. The helical gear 29 is secured to the end of stem 28 and the coil sprin 30 seating on the ball bearing 3l permlts t is stem to freely rotate, while the sleeve is held in place.

Ahorizontal shaft 32 is mounted on bearings 36 on the engine head andis driven by the chain belt 38 from the gear 37 on the engine' shaft 16. The ratio of the drive is such that shaft 32 moves at half the speed of the crank shaft. A parallel countershaft 34 is also mounted on bearings 36 and connected by the gears 40 and 41 with shaft 32 to rotate at the same speed but in opposite direction thereto. These shafts extend over the head of the engine for its entire length.

On shaft 32 a helical gear 33 is mounted to engage with gear 24 on the stem of the outer sleeve so that this stem is rotated by the shaft and at the same speed as the shaft. On shaft 34 the helical gear `35 is mounted which engages the gear 29 on the stem 28 thereby rotating this stem at the same speed as the shaft.

It will be observed that with this construction the outer sleeve valve 22 is rotated at half the speed of the engine shaft and the inner` sleeve valve 27 is also rotated at half the speed of the engine shaft but in opposite direction to the rotation of the outer sleeve valve.

By referring to Fig. 3 it will be noted that the outer sleeve 22 is provided with ports 51,

y52 and 53 and the inner sleeve 27 is provided with ports 54 and 55. These sleeves rotate in opposite directions as indicated by the arrows i and at predetermined points certain of the ports in the outer and inner sleeves register with each other and with the intake and exhaust chambers and the spark plug chamber. These conditions are operated by the crank shaft in the order of the operation of the cylinder to open the intake on the' intake stroke, to close the ports on the compression stroke, to open the spark plug chamber on the firing stroke and to open the'exhaust on\ the exhaust stroke. L

As shown by the diagram in Fig. 5 the spark plug chamber a is open to the valve chamber or firing chamber d through the ports 51 and 54, this represents the condition at the time of firing, the intake and exhaust being closed. In Fig. 6 the intake is open through ports 53 and 55 and the exhaust and the spark plug chamber are closed. In Fig. 7 the exhaust is open through ports 52 and 55 and the intake and the spark plug chamber are closed. p l l It will be noted that in the operation of i the engine the gases are compressed in the conical chamber of the inner sleeve which forces the sleeve valves on their seats so that leaking through the valves is practically impossible, the valves are constantly grinding their own seat by their rotation and their operation is not influenced by temperature taken up by the conical construction. The engine head may be removed and the valves replaced by releasing the valve stems. Since the entire mechanism is embodied in the engine head it is apparent that this head may be placed on any standard cylinder block thereby securing the advantages of a sleeve valve motor.

The spark plug is enclosed from the cylinder except at the time of firing and is thus guarded from oil and carbon.

Attention is called to the fact that the valves are operated by a rotary motion and as shown in the drawings colnplete rotation of thev valve sleeves is required with the port arrangement yof the sleeves. It should be understood however that the port arrangement in the sleeves can be modified so that oscillating motion will operate the valves as disclosed in U. S. Patent 1,098,455, issued to me, June 2, 1914. The term rotation herein should be understood to include a partial as well as a complete rotation.

A pair of sleeve valves operating in opposite directions, one within the other is shown in the drawings; itshould be noted however, that a single sleeve valve can be arranged with ports spaced to secure the desired operation of the engine. These valves may also be def signed for` engines of the tWo cycle type as well as for the four cycle engine shown.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

' A valve mechanism for an internal combustion engine as described comprising a cylinder having a head with a pair of conical shaped valves located on the axial line of said cylinder, a hollow stern extending from one of said valves and an inner stem extending from the other valve working in said hollow stem, a gear on each of said stems, a pair of shafts gear connected to each other and located one above the other, a gear wheel on one of said shafts engaging the gear on the hollow stem and a gear on the other shaft enp gaging the gear on the inner stem and means operatively connecting one of said shafts with the engine shaft.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature. GEORGE MGDOW'ELL.

changes. Wear on the valves is automaticallyv l 

